On March 18, 2020, at the request of Commissioner Mark Samuelian, the City Commission referred the discussion item to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (Item C4AA). On June 30, 2020 the item was deferred to the September 22, 2020 LUSC.

On September 22, 2020 the item was deferred to the October 20, 2020 LUSC meeting. On October 20, 2020 the LUSC discussed the item and continued it to the January 2021 meeting, with the following direction:

1. Provide an update on the use of pervious pavers on Ocean Drive.

2. The administration will explore and report back on the cost and construction feasibility of using pervious pavers in crosswalks and surface parking lots.

On January 20, 2021, the LUSC discussed and continued the item to the March 24, 2021 meeting with the following direction:

1. The LUSC recommends that when a determination is made regarding the utilization of Ocean Drive, permeable pavement shall be seriously considered.

2. The Administration shall identify two or three pilot options where pervious pavement can be incorporated, including the overall cost and construction timing, and present those options to the LUSC.

PLANNING ANALYSIS
Pervious or Permeable Pavements
Under Sec. 130-69 of the Land Development Regulations of the City Code, open-air parking lots, including parking areas and all drive lanes are required to be constructed with one of the following surface finishes:

1. A high albedo surface consisting of a durable material or sealant in order to minimize the urban heat island effect.

2. Porous pavement. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to all and ramps.

Additionally, under the design review and certificate of appropriateness review process, non-vehicular outdoor surface areas, such as walkways and terraces, are typically required to be composed of pervious or high albedo surfaces. The purpose of these regulations is to encourage and facilitate better on-site water retention, as well as reduce the heat island effect on private properties.

Permeable pavement is recognized as a best management practice by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and if designed and constructed correctly it has the potential to become a viable alternative for dealing with stormwater runoff. Due to its open graded composition, permeable pavement allows rain to infiltrate to the underlaying soils beneath the pavement thereby reducing stormwater runoff.

Although there are numerous benefits associated with the use of permeable pavement, the City has been utilizing regular asphalt pavement within public rights-of-way, as opposed to permeable pavement. Factors such as failure due to poor mix design, improper construction techniques and lesser structural strength leading to poor long term performance are some of the reasons that the City has not elected to use permeable pavement in City roads. Additionally, the lack of data, particularly with respect to the long term performance, leads to hesitation in using permeable asphalt pavement.

UPDATE - January 20, 2021

 The following is a summary of the additional information requested by the LUSC:

Update on the use of pervious pavers on Ocean Drive.
To date the Administration has not been tasked to begin the design development of Ocean Drive.

Cost and construction feasibility of using pervious pavers in crosswalks and surface parking lots.
Attached are illustrations with typical costs for different road assemblies. These are summarized as follows:

1. Concrete public walkway paver brick section (non-traffic bearing) typically used for pedestrian traffic (i.e. beachwalks) - $11/SF.

2. Concrete road paver brick section (traffic bearing) typically used for all vehicular traffic loads - $30/SF.

3. Standard asphalt pavement road section for comparison - $4/SF.

4. Pervious concrete pavement section typically used for parking stalls within parking lots - $11/SF.

These cost estimates are rounded by unit costs for simplicity and do not include the subgrade costs, as these are somewhat typical between all sections.

For informational purposes, attached is the Public Works 5 year GO bond resurfacing plan. This provides some context as to where the above noted pavement options may be used. However, additional analysis will be needed in terms of cost differentials.

As indicated previously, and as a general rule, the administration recommends the continued use of regular asphalt pavement within the City’s ROW for areas that accommodate primarily vehicular traffic. If circumstances permit, and funding is available, the use of pavers or alternative surface materials within other ROW areas and crosswalk areas may be considered, depending on the elevation of the ROW and amount of anticipated vehicular traffic.

UPDATE - March 24, 2021